HC Rejects Raju's Bail Plea

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail petitions of B Ramalinga Raju and 7 other accused in the multi-crore Satyam Computers scam.

Justice Samudrala Govindarajulu, who heard the arguments on the bail petitions on 27 August, dismissed all the bail applications.

It was for the 4th time in August alone that the different courts have denied bail to Raju and the other accused in the Satyam scam.

Earlier, of the 10 accused in the case, B Suryanarayana Raju, who is Raju's brother, and T Srinivas, a former auditor of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, had been granted bail by different courts.

Besides Raju, Satyam's former MD B Rama Raju, ex-CFO Srinivas Vadlamani, former employees G Ramakrishna, D Venkatapathi Raju and Ch. Srisailam, former PWC auditor Subramani Gopalakrishnan and Satyam's former internal chief auditor V S Prabhakar Gupta, are currently lodged in Chanchalguda Central Prison in the city.

The accused had sought bail on the grounds that the trial in the Satyam scam was not completed within the Supreme Court's stipulated deadline of 31 July, and that all the prosecution witnesses were examined.

Earlier, cancelling Raju's bail in October last year, the Supreme Court had stated that the accused could file another bail application only after 31 July 2011, if the trial in the case was not completed in the local court.

Sources close to Raju said he and the other accused may now approach the Supreme Court for bail. (INN)